IDC numbers suggest tablets replacing PCs

IDC numbers suggest tablets replacing PCs

By Editorial Staff, Resource Recycling

Just as many tablets as PCs will be shipped in 2013, according to revised projections from market research firm IDC.

Worldwide, the company expects tablet shipments to be approximately 350 million units this year, with 191 million of those utilizing screen sizes of less than eight inches. To put this in context, a total of 128.1 million tablets shipped worldwide in 2012. Year-over-year, PC shipments are expected to fall from 350 million units in 2012, to an expected 345 million units this year.

Growth in tablet shipments is expected to slow over the next several years, with IDC estimating a compound annual growth rate for tablet shipments of just over 16 percent through 2017. Also, the company predicts that shipments of tablets running Google's Android operating system will edge out the iPad this year, finishing 2013 with an expected 49 percent market share versus 46 percent for Apple's tablet.